BEWARE of new Samsung 850 PRO Firmware!

[Xeon_Addict]

All,

Just wanted to warn everyone that has an 850 Pro SSD...

Samsung just released a new firmware for this model. I tried to update all 3 of my 850 Pro's via iso burned to a CD. Turns out one of my SSD's already had the latest firmware and the other two don't.

The firmware update failed and borked one of my SSD's, luckily not the drive with my OS on it. But unfortunately is was the drive with all my programs installed and on my main workstation...

I had also tried updating thru magician software and it fricken reports the original (old) firmware as the current version...

I called Samsung support and they are now aware of the issue.

And yes, all are in AHCI mode...

 

[coercitiv]

Heads up received. Tx!

 

[weevilone]

Samsung's on a roll. Everyone has problems from time to time, but maybe they're going to string a bunch of them together.

 

[Xeon_Addict]

Update...

Some weird voodoo going on here. One of the SSD's I updated was in my laptop (128GB 850 PRO). The firmware update said it was "unsuccessful". So I powered off the pc, then powered back on.

I tried it again with the iso file on a cd... this time it showed the drive having the latest firmware... WTF SAMSUNG.

So, after powering of my main workstation and powering back on, I check the firmware on my 256GB SSD and that also showed the latest firmware.

Long story short, i think you just have to power off your computer after the update EVEN though it say it is unsuccessful...

All is well for the time being, will be testing these drives though.

 

[Elixer]

I would be leery of a SSD that had a failed firmware flash.
Is it possible to reflash it? If not, I would ask sammy what you should do, but, I am thinking a RMA is the only solution.

 

[PliotronX]

SSDs in general seem to buck the trend of updating to the latest ASAP. Unless shits already broke, don't fix it. Kinda like my Galaxy S5; Samsung took half a year to molest Android 5.0 and the release is a steaming pile.

 

[Franzi]

I guess its that one:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html

850 PRO EXM02B6Q

- Improved compatibility for SATA 3Gb/s based systems
- Enhanced user-performance for workstations


Have you noticed any performance improvements since flashing to this release?

 

[fleshconsumed]

SSDs in general seem to buck the trend of updating to the latest ASAP. Unless shits already broke, don't fix it. Kinda like my Galaxy S5; Samsung took half a year to molest Android 5.0 and the release is a steaming pile.

This is why you install CM11 (soon to be CM12). You'll void the warranty if you do (shame on Samsung for that), but you only have one year warranty anyway, if it hasn't broken by now it probably won't.

 

[exar333]

SSDs in general seem to buck the trend of updating to the latest ASAP. Unless shits already broke, don't fix it. Kinda like my Galaxy S5; Samsung took half a year to molest Android 5.0 and the release is a steaming pile.

This.

I generally don't suggest updating HDDs or MBs to the latest BIOS or firmware unless it is needed for a specific reason (new feature support or existing bug fix). If it works and does all you need it to, why risk it?

That's just my take.

<------------------840Pro user (and yes, I usually ignore those firmware update messages)

 

[Xeon_Addict]

Franzi wrote:

Have you noticed any performance improvements since flashing to this release?

I ended up reformatting and installing Windows on my Plextor M5 Pro. Now running both the Samsung 850's in RAID 0 atm. Will be keeping an eye on them though.

I haven't noticed any real performance gains since the firmware upgrades as the drives are extremely fast right out of the box.

According to crystaldiskinfo all is well. Time will tell I guess...

 

[Z15CAM]

Over the years I've experience - No Matter what device you have Flashed Firmware into - You always have to Reboot or Shut Down so that the MB Bios can interact with it and the OS can recognize it - That is reassign OS IRQ's. as you are basically changing Hardware with that Firmware and likely IRQ re-assignment may require updated drivers.

Not saying that a Firmware Update affects IRQ assignment but rather reflects performance where a new driver is most likely assigned to a firmware update.

 

[Capt.Gil]

I just updated the Firmware on my Samsung 850 Pro/512GB SSD &#8230; It works but you don&#8217;t get a fuzzy warm feeling while doing it.

Firmware Update:

§ Firstly I tried to do the Firmware Update the easy way, from Samsung Magician, (desktop utility) but I got the message that &#8220;This is the latest firmware&#8221; &#8230; EXM01B6Q &#8230;That was plain wrong &#8230; I just downloaded a new firmware from the Samsung website &#8211; no mistake!

§ I downloaded the Samsung Magician DOS Utility and installed the firmware upgrade with that &#8230; Things seemed ok &#8230; The DOS Utility programmed the SSD Firmware normally and after a minute or so, I got a message to reboot the drive &#8230; I did and got this error message: &#8220;Firmware Upgrade Unsuccessful!!! Firmware version mismatch.&#8221;

§ I booted the PC back into Windows and the SSD showed up normally so I checked the Firmware again &#8211; It was still showing the old Firmware - EXM01B6Q.

I&#8217;ll forget about the Firmware for now but then I had another issue &#8211; Secure Erase

Secure Erase:

§ When I opened the Secure Erase module in Samsung Magician Desktop Software, I got this message, &#8220;The attached SSD is in a frozen state &#8230; To proceed, please refer to the &#8216;Help&#8217; to remedy this problem&#8221; &#8230; I clicked on the (?) HELP button and got the Samsung solution as follows:

The attached SSD is in a frozen (locked) state.
In order to continue, please refer to the steps below to &#8220;unfreeze&#8221; your SSD. Please do not turn off your PC, remove power or terminate Magician during progress.
1. Remove the cover from your PC
2. Disconnect the SATA power cable connected to your SSD, wait a few seconds, then reconnect it.
3. Click the &#8216;Start&#8217; button to proceed with Secure Erase
4. Repeat steps 1-3 if you continue to have difficulty, please use the CD/DVD creation tool to complete the process via DOS

§ Screw that &#8211; I ran Parted Magic from a Linux Live CD and had no problems whatsoever &#8211; the drive wasn&#8217;t even frozen and Secure Erase was done successfully in about 4 sec!
§ I checked the SSD and it was like fresh out of the box &#8230; Then for fun I checked the Firmware version again but now it showed &#8220;The latest firmware is EXM02B6Q&#8221; &#8211; Go figure!

§ Long story &#8211;short &#8230; Download the Samsung Magician DOS Firmware Update Utility &#8211; Burn it to CD or Flash Drive &#8211; Boot to it and flash the Firmware Update &#8230; Disregard the &#8216;Upgrade Unsuccessful&#8217; message &#8211; Just reboot the PC and eventually the new Firmware will be detected properly (I guess) &#8230;

In my case, I didn&#8217;t see the new Firmware until after the Secure Erase using Parted Magic and now the SSD works fine but I don&#8217;t see where the performance is supposed to be enhanced with this update.

No matter Samsung &#8211; Next time I&#8217;ll pay a few dollars more for Intel SSDs and tools that just work.

 

[Xeon_Addict]

Capt. Gil,

Yep, same exact thing that happened with two of my 850 Pro's... I had to completely shut down the computer's before the drive's showed EXM02B6Q.

Not a warm fuzzy feeling at all...

 

[Berryracer]

My 1TB 850 PRO came with the updated firmware but my older 850 PRO 256GB obviously had the first firmware and Magician wouldn't show that there is an update. Tried to manually update via the bootable CD ISO which I downloaded but it wouldn't ever boot. Then I finally figured it out, you have to turn off secure boot and enable legacy ROM if your system is like mine (a UEFI system), then you can do the update, which required me to keep the system on and disconnect/reconnect the SSD while the system is on, but all went well

 

[inachu]

This.

I generally don't suggest updating HDDs or MBs to the latest BIOS or firmware unless it is needed for a specific reason (new feature support or existing bug fix). If it works and does all you need it to, why risk it?

That's just my take.

<------------------840Pro user (and yes, I usually ignore those firmware update messages)

1,000 times this!

I never treat my hard drive like we do with video cards. OH HEY A NEW FIRMWARE IS OUT !!! HEHEHE reinstalling windows and my apps is so super fun! NOT!!!!!!!!

 

[Berryracer]

1,000 times this!

I never treat my hard drive like we do with video cards. OH HEY A NEW FIRMWARE IS OUT !!! HEHEHE reinstalling windows and my apps is so super fun! NOT!!!!!!!!

and why would you need to reinstall windows/apps if you update the firmware? never been the case! the only difference if the SSD you're trying to upgrade is a system boot SSD, you can't do it while in Windows and will have to boot off the ISO (if provided like with Samsung SSDs) to perform the update or you can connect it to another pc as a secondary drive and do the update

 

[VirtualLarry]

and why would you need to reinstall windows/apps if you update the firmware? never been the case!

Uhm, perhaps with Samsung, but with OCZ, you almost always had to re-install. There may have been a Crucial update that required that too, I don't remember exactly.

 

[Berryracer]

Uhm, perhaps with Samsung, but with OCZ, you almost always had to re-install. There may have been a Crucial update that required that too, I don't remember exactly.

ohh I get it. I never owned anything but a few LiteON SSDs when I first used an SSD which never had any firmware updates then I only used Samsung so that's why I didn't know about this

 

[Capt.Gil]

1,000 times this! I never treat my hard drive like we do with video cards. OH HEY A NEW FIRMWARE IS OUT !!! HEHEHE reinstalling windows and my apps is so super fun! NOT!!!!!!!!

Firstly, I'm a believer in the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" ... Even manufacturer's will usually say that ... So far, so good.

§ About Updating Firmware ... YES you should normally update to new firmware if it's available especially for an SSD - They are just too complex, require tons of complex algorithms to work properly and they're pushed out on the market before they're ready, including half-baked Firmware coding (bugs) the Manufacturer's don't want to admit to or you to even know about.

That shouldn't be a surprise, right?

§ Manufacturers are absolutely never completely up front with what a firmware / BIOS or any other update will fix - They outright lie or omit the info or offer so called 'New Features' as a smoke-screen to fix bugs in their Firmware hopefully before you crash into one and spread the bad word all over the Internet.

So ask yourself, what happens to your data if you just happen to hit an unpatched bug because you didn't update the Firmware?

And how do I know any of this? - Well, I've had it happen more than once where an update will fix something that's not working for me but never a mention of it from the manufacturer. It begs the question – What’s being fixed that you don't know about and they won't tell you?

§ Just take the Samsung Magician, the SSD Utility ... Even the DOS version, it's a joke and its Firmware Update process stinks - no time for Samsung to get that stuff working properly ... That's why this thread even exists.

§ About losing data ... "berryracer" is pretty much right on ... It shouldn't happen. If the Manufacturer says you will lose your data - then you will.
But just to be sure - you always, always, need to backup your data anyway - JUST DO IT.

In my experience, I have never unexpectedly lost anything while updating firmware on any SSD

§ About spending hours re-installing ... No way! If your that worried you can use imaging software - If I lose the OS on my SSD, I can Restore it and be back in business in about 7 minutes - Everything ... All programs and data.

§ About bricking your SSD ... Be careful. Yes, a Firmware Update can brick your SSD so read, and re-read the instructions and if you don't understand what is being said - please just ask someone ... And remember ... "Google's your friend"

Sorry folks, I'm into overkill now ...

"NOT UPDATING to new SSD Firmware could be more hazardous to your DATA than the Firmware Update process itself"

Just my 2 cents worth ...

 

[tb77]

I broke my 850 Pro 1TB as well. I updated the firmware while having hardware encryption with bitlocker enabled. Now it is in read only mode, bitlocker password prompt is not appearing anymore and secure erase via the Samsung boot image is no longer supported. Hdparm and diskpart fail as well. Ordered a new one and will RMA the broken one.

 

[Capt.Gil]

Ordered a new one and will RMA the broken one.

Wow! ... Sorry to hear that.

Since you're going to RMA it, will Samsung replace it under warranty?

 

[tb77]

I hope so (RMA handling goes through the shop where I bought it - European law...) and will update the thread with the results.

 

[wayliff]

Just a few days ago I updated the firmware for my Samsung 850EVO 250GB and also a Crucial M550 256GB mSATA (both with bitlocker enabled), I was a bit spooked but both did just fine, no re installs needed.

 

[Pwndenburg]

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up guys, I installed the new firmware and I was lucky. But, I will try to avoid installing these from now on just in case.

 

[soewhaty]

Had my original firmware EXM01B6Q on Samsung 850 pro SSD and then today I updated to firmware EXM02B6Q and guess what happened? Before the update my speeds with Magician Benchmark were 550/550MB and read/write was 90.000/90.000 iops ... after the update to the new EXM02B6Q firmware I get the following - 300/500 and 60.000/60.000 ... WOW! WHAT a slow-down, if we could trust Magician. I did reinstall Magician, but ... nothing .. still slow in tests. Also downloaded the .iso file of the EXM02B6Q from samsung.com and tried to make a bootable USB to re-do the firmware update, but could not do it. Used xcopy command in elevated CMD, but nothing happened .. the usb was not detected as bootable, so I could not re-do the update. Tried also other 3rd party tools to make it bootable but still could not make it bootable so I was not able to redo the update, if that would have changed anything. So now I'm stuck with Magician showing me these lower speeds and I don't like that.

- has anyone else experienced the same
- can anyone help me try to fix it to be as fast as before
- alternatively, how can I revert to the old firmware {I know that on samsungs homepage it says it is impossible, but it has to be possible}